24
by paglir
Summary: Imitating the perspective of the popular hit TV series "24" the students and teachers of the Xavier's Institute try to survive XornMagneto's attack at the school before he takes over New York in New X-Men
1. 5AM

Before the X-Mansion was rebuilt in May 2004, a bomb planted by Magneto/Xorn decimated it. How did the students survive? What happened before the bomb exploded? Imitating the perspective of the popular hit TV series "24" the students and teachers of the Xavier's Institute have 24 hours to survive Magneto/Xorn's attack.

5:00 AM

Nurse Annie Ghazikhanian couldn't sleep last night. She tossed and turned. Glimmering sunshine splattered across her face while the nightly shadows crept away. The leaves rustled outside. Birds chirped to announce that it was now morning. Annie was afraid to close her eyes. Images of bodies scattered all over the Genoshan Island replayed in her mind. It trickled her thoughts like blood from a fresh wound. The purple velvet sky shone through her window. Alex Summers snored beside her. She watched his chest rise and fall. Their relationship began when he was asleep. Through a psychic world they knew each other in everyway possible way. But he didn't see them.

He didn't see them die. He didn't see their bodies torn and blown to bits. He didn't see the men carry the bodies of their wives who carried the bodies of their children. But she had seen it all through the woman who tried to kill her. The woman who tried to claim the only man Annie had ever truly loved. When Professor Xavier and Annie entered the mind of Lorna Dane to investigate her recent psychotic behavior, neither knew the effects it would have on Annie. Images haunted her. Buildings collapsed and tumbled on the people below. Millions died. Annie shuddered.

She got up. Got dressed. And headed downstairs toward the kitchen. The mansion was large but it was large enough for a school that housed a couple hundred students. She tied her dark hair into a ponytail. Her blue eyes fluttered out the window. Bobby Drake was outside doing his morning jog. In his ice form he looked like a living sculpture. Annie thought it was funny. But she quickly averted her eyes from his moving body. She had kissed him before. Twice.

"We didn't even have to read your mind to know what you were thinking," Said three voices in unison.

Annie gasped as she opened the light in the kitchen. The three remaining Stepford Cuckoos sat around the kitchen table. Their eyes glowed, fixed on Nurse Annie Ghazikhanian. It took her a second to breathe and to straighten herself out.

"I have no inclination on what you girls are talking about." She walked across the room to prepare herself a cup of coffee. Double cream. Double sugar. Their eyes didn't move.

"What are the three of you doing this early in the morning anyway?"

They remained silent for several seconds. Annie stared at the floor.

"It's all very humorous," one of them answered. She couldn't tell which one. They sat in different chairs. Legs crossed. Arms folded. Their glowing pupil-less eyes were directly ahead of them, towards the window. Each was a perfect replica of the other.

"What is?" she asked them.

"Us," another one said.

The third one spoke last, "Ignorance is something we're not use to."

Annie took a large gulp into her coffee. She leaned back against the sink. Still staring at the floor.

"We couldn't sleep because our traumatized minds are very bothered," the three voices ringed together in unison.

"We've lost two sisters."

"One died trying to be a hero. The other betrayed us."

"What are we now?"

These children need a psychiatrist, Annie thought to herself, not a nurse.

"That's a rhetorical question right?" They turned to face her. Skepticism was written on their faces.

"I'm sorry girls, I'm not good at this. There's so much BS I can tell you about being strong and having faith, but you can probably see that in my head. I'm neither Oprah nor Dr. Phil. And it's just too early in the morning. My head is filled with death and angst and worry. All I can think about is how to prevent my child from suffering the same persecution all of you suffer..." Annie's voice trailed off. She was shaking.

"What are you doing to me?" She asked them as the room started to disappear.

"We're testing our telepathic abilities on you. Relax. We'll make your troubles go away. Pretend like you're starring in a _Midsummer's Night Dream_."

"Get out of my head!" She screeched. When Annie opened her eyes she was in a fetal position on the floor. The tiles smelled like bleach. Cold surface.

The girls' hands were on their ears.

"See? Even a baseline was able to block her thoughts," one of them told the other.

"What are we without Sophie and Esme?"

"Please don't do that again." Annie grabbed the edge of the kitchen sink. She got up and took a rag from one of the cupboards. The coffee soaked into it. Then released into the sink.

They were silent. Apologetic? Maybe.

"Don't worry about it. I'm getting use to being the victim of mutant aggression."

She walked toward the window. Bobby Drake was still outside. Stretching on the field.

Still staring out the window she said, "I think the problem is that you have always thought of yourselves as the 'five in one'. One Super Mind. None of you ever thought of yourselves as individuals. It's always 'IN' versus 'OUT'. And when Sophie started showing her individual ambition of being a hero, the rest of you seemingly followed. Conformity is your security blanket. Esme had her own individual agenda. She may have manipulated your beliefs but what really has you upset is that she thought on her own. She thought without you."

"You have no gifts. No powers whatsoever How did you know all this?" the three asked inquisitively.

"You told me yourselves."

The girls looked puzzled.

"Instead of taking my thoughts you girls gave me yours". She smiled, "I guess that's what telepathy feels like".

"Why ever would we ever let you read our minds?"

"Because it can help when you tell someone your problems".

"Do you think we'll be able to have all our full powers back?"

"Maybe."

Two minutes of silenced passed between them.

"Well I better get going girls. I kind of have a job to do."

"Before you go we have to tell you something," they said as they got up at the same time.

"Quentin Quire gave us an odd telepathic message before he died. He told us that we're all going to die." Something cold crept up Annie's spine.

"That's silly. We're all going to die one day", She replied, shaking her head.

"It felt like he meant sooner, like something cosmic is going to tip the earth and alter time. But maybe we were hallucinating. Trauma does that you know?" They turned around facing the door. Annie nodded.

"We have to get ready for class. Don't let Mr. Summers get to you. He actually has feelings for you. Oh and Miss Ghazikhanian, don't say one word or we'll know and it will be _The Tempest_ that your lovely mind will star in." Annie knew it was their way of saying 'thank you', no matter how nonchalant it sounded.

5:59AM

Author's Notes: As you may be aware the plot is slow and there is very little plot in this chapter. Don't worry, I have about 23 chapters to go


	2. 6AM

Before the X-Mansion was rebuilt in May 2004, a bomb planted by Magneto/Xorn decimated it. How did the students survive? What happened before the bomb exploded? Imitating the perspective of the popular hit TV series "24" the students and teachers of the Xavier's Institute have 24 hours to survive Magneto/Xorn's attack.

**6:00 AM**

Bobby Drake was jogging around the school since the sun came up. The sun had just majestically climbed from the east. It brought warmth to the cool morning and also warning of the humid day ahead. Bobby had jogged for about 45 minutes. He slowed his pace. His entire body was encased in ice. However, you could still make out the spiked style of his hair and the veins on his arms. From a distance, no once could tell that his chest was completely made of solid ice.

As he began to quicken his pace around the school, he noticed two small figures quickly approaching him. Closer. Familiar. One was a young boy, chestnut colored hair and a light blue ball cap. The other was orange, scaly and wearing a spring jacket.

"Hey Mr. Drake!" Carter called out.

Bobby waved. "What are you kids doing so early in the morning? Do your mothers know where you are?"

Sammy Pare answered, "Yea Mr. Drake. We're just going to the creek before it gets too hot. Summer vacation has just started you know?"

"Ok. Whatever. You two don't go too far, got it?"

They both nodded and began to walk to towards the creek. Bobby continued his morning exercise.

When the two kids got far enough from Iceman, Sammy asked, "Geez, what's up his duodenum?"

"I don't know. Mom says that he has cold shoulder since Lorna came back."

"Yeah. I heard about that psycho attacking everyone at the wedding."

Carter looked at the sky for a second, lost in thought.

"I don't think she's a psycho, I think she's just broken and needs to be fixed."

Sammy winced, "Whatever dude. At least Mr. Drake didn't catch on."

"Yeah. Do you think that was kind of wrong?"

"Nah. He would of freaked if he knew we were kind of going off school property."

Carter stopped for a second to fix his shoe laces and asks, "So where are we going?"

Sammy smirked through his fish-like lips, "It is so cool. I found it when I was trying to hide from my mom. As much as I want her to be here she's kind of getting annoying. Anyways, I'm taking you to what I think could be a UFO site!"

Carter looked up at Sammy with awe in his eyes.

"Cool…"

**6:15 AM**

Annie Ghazikhanian walked across the hallways of Xavier's Institute. Her white heels clicked to the sound of the empty hallways. Some of the students had left the school for the summer, but there were still many who stayed behind. She entered one of the classrooms on the second level.

"Marking exams so early in the morning?"

Jean-Paul Beaubier didn't even need to look up from his desk.

"Come in Annie. Yes I am marking exams. I'm almost finished. We only have a couple hundred students in the school so it'll take me less than a minute to mark each and everyone."

"Speed reading. I've always wanted that kind of ability when I was studying to become a nurse."

"Oh really? How are your patients? Gracious I presume." He lifted a mug from the table and took a sip. Hot cocoa. No caffeine.

"The ice queen was reading me her rights. Emma Frost can be the most condescending woman on earth, but I know she truly loves her students."

She sat on top of a desk directly in front of Jean Paul. She faced the window. Bobby Drake wasn't outside anymore.

Jean Paul looked at her and said, "I still can't believe that Esme shot her own teacher. Emma isn't the easiest person to get along with, but to shoot her down… with a diamond bullet… I would of settled for a laxative."

Annie stood up and walked to the board. "I'm not surprised anymore. Alien invasions, school riots and a trip to Hell… the school shooting looked very normal and bland compared to those."

"These are mutant students Annie. They have to deal with the supernatural world more often than 'normal' kids. A child like Esme must have been confused and misguided in order to do something like this."

Annie began to draw on the board with a piece of chalk and asked, "When does a child start taking responsibility for their actions? I think Esme was old enough to make her own decisions and not hide behind the excuse of being a mutant. I was talking to her sisters earlier this morning. Even they knew deep down that Esme had made the decision to deviate from them and commit a crime for God knows what reason."

Still sitting on his chair, Jean Paul placed the stacks of paper onto a large folder.

"Good point. As much as I wish Esme were innocent, she shot Emma Frost. And it was a decision that she made on her own. For what ever reason, she wanted her teacher dead," he sighed. "How about your other patient?"

Annie smirked, "You mean Josh Foley, the golden child? That boy has a lot of energy and after almost being slaughtered by some large animal, he managed to heal himself and turn his skin into one of my favorite colors. It's almost funny how my only patients are living pieces of jewellery."

"Josh may be full of himself but he's a good kid."

Annie finished drawing a sun with clouds.

Jean Paul looked at her and said, "You know four-year-olds can do better."

She laughed, "Shut up!" and changing the subject, "What are you doing today?"

"We have that faculty meeting that Danielle Moonstar called up at 7, other than that, nothing else. Why?"

"I'm almost done the report on those micro-sentinel things that the children had earlier in the term so I'll be free today. I wanted to do a little shopping in town."

Jean Paul crossed his arms, "So you want me to be your shopping buddy? What am I, a straight woman's stereotypical gay bosom buddy? And are we going to stop for ice-cream?"

Annie chuckled, "Yes Jean Paul. Of course we'll stop for ice-cream."

"Then count me in."

**6:45 AM**

Sammy and Carter continued to walk the forest trail around the area of Xavier's Institute. The sun was now directly on the east in front of them. Birds chirped. Other animal sounds.

Carter stomach started to grumble, "Are we there yet? I'm getting tired. And hungry."

"Don't worry dude. What I'm going to show you will knock your socks off. Here I got this chocolate bar. And yes we're almost there."

The two continued walking. Carter chewed on the chocolate bar. It was early in the morning and the day was already getting humid. Carter immediately stopped.

Sammy looked behind him to see a stoned look on Carter's face, "Buddy, what is it?"

"I sense something. I don't know. I'm kind of scared here."

"Maybe it's the UFO site. We're very close to it. It's just over there." Sammy pointed to a cave.

"I don't know Sammy. I think we should go home now."

"Don't worry! I've been in there before. There's nothing to be afraid of. Trust me."

The two walked towards the cave. It looked as if the land around had recently been cleared. As if some force had just created this cave right in the middle of the forest. It was dark, mystical, and downright frightening.

"See this is it," Sammy pointed.

Carter tried looking inside. It was too dark.

"What if there are bears in here or something?"

"You and I would be able to sense them. Hold on. This is the cool part."

They waited for a few seconds. Then symbols on the walls started to glow."

Carter was astounded, "Holy. Holy. Holy."

"See! Don't you think that this is a UFO site now?"

Carter scratched his head. There was something familiar about these symbols.

"Sammy. We've seen these symbols before… during the school riot."

**6:59 AM**


End file.
